JOY Drive with Warren

Suzy Wrong explores the SBS series Homebodies through the uncomfortable prospect of meeting your teenage self, asking whether we ever truly leave our younger selves behind and how family, transition, nostalgia and queer joy shape the people we become. Guest: Suzy Wrong Presenter: Warren Andrew The post Suzy Wrong: TV Series Review – ‘Homebodies’ appeared first on JOY Drive .

Dr Rob Nicholls explains Australia’s proposed “fair and reasonable” privacy test, why clicking “I agree” may no longer be enough to justify how companies use our information, and what stricter rules could mean for AI, location tracking and smart glasses. Guest: Dr Rob Nicholls, Senior Research Associate in Media and Communications at the University of Sydney Presenter: Warren Andrew The post...

Joshua Hortinela explores nostalgia, messy dating, queer romance and what happens after the grand gesture in his debut novel Hate You to Love You, asking whether the romantic movies we grew up with gave us hope or completely unrealistic expectations. Guest: Joshua Hortinela, author of ‘Hate You to Love You’ Presenter: Warren Andrew The post Joshua Hortinela: Did Romantic Movies Lie to...

Associate Professor T.J. Thomson explores new technology designed to verify that photographs were captured by real cameras, what that can and cannot prove, and whether we’re heading towards a world where every unverified image is treated with suspicion. Guest: Associate Professor T.J. Thomson, Associate Professor of Visual Communication and Digital Media at RMIT University Presenter: Warren Andrew...

Rachael Lynch explains what to do when someone says they’re not OK, why listening can matter more than trying to fix the problem, and how trust and feeling safe can make those conversations particularly important for LGBTQIA+ people. Guest: Rachael Lynch, two-time Olympian, former Hockeyroos goalkeeper and R U OK? ambassador Presenter: Warren Andrew The post Rachael Lynch: ‘R U OK?’ For LGBTQIA+ a...

Professor Daniel Angus explores plans to give Australians greater control over their social media feeds, whether switching off personalised recommendations could curb rage bait and misinformation, and what we might gain or lose if algorithms stopped deciding what we see. Guest: Professor Daniel Angus, Director of the QUT Digital Media Research Centre at Queensland University of Technology Presente...

Author Nick Bendel reveals how an introvert’s decision to have lunch with 500 strangers transformed his understanding of rejection, confidence, curiosity and why changing your life sometimes begins with having the courage to send one uncomfortable message. Guest: Nick Bendel, author of The 500 Lunches Effect: How Social Courage Changes Everything Presenter: Con Keramitsis The post Nick Bendel: &#8...

Associate Professor Lauren Rosewarne unpacks inbox guilt, unread-email anxiety and the strange way we turned replying quickly and reaching “inbox zero” into evidence that we were organised, productive and somehow better at life. Guest: Dr Lauren Rosewarne, Associate Professor in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne Presenter: Con Keramitsis The post Associate...

Jye Marshall examines the cancellation of the Met’s planned John Galliano retrospective and the uncomfortable question of whether fashion could recognise an extraordinary creative legacy without overlooking the controversy surrounding the person who created it. Guest: Jye Marshall, fashion designer and Lecturer in Fashion Design at Swinburne University of Technology Presenter: Con Keramitsis The p...

Dr Rob Nicholls unpacks Meta’s landmark US settlement over allegations that Facebook and Instagram were designed to keep young people hooked, and asks whether responsibility for endless scrolling is finally shifting from users to the companies that designed the platforms. Guest: Dr Rob Nicholls, Senior Research Associate in Media and Communications at the University of Sydney Presenter: Con Kerami...

Professor Lisa Asher explores how supermarkets were turning own-brand products into powerful competitors, using shelf space and shopper data to influence our choices, and responding to viral food crazes such as “sardinemaxxing” almost as quickly as TikTok could create them. Guest: Lisa Asher, retail and consumer behaviour expert from the University of Sydney Presenter: Con Keramitsis The post Lisa...

Dr Madeline Sprajcer explains why simply knowing the phone might ring could keep the brain on alert, disrupt sleep even when the call never comes, and reveal a hidden cost of asking workers to remain available overnight. Guest: Dr Madeline Sprajcer, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at CQUniversity Australia Presenter: Con Keramitsis The post Dr Madeline Sprajcer: How Being On-Call Disrupts Sleep Even...

Associate Professor Vincent Ho cuts through the marketing around antibiotics and probiotics, explaining what antibiotics actually do to our gut microbiome, when probiotics could help and why automatically reaching for a supplement isn’t necessarily the answer. Guest: Associate Professor Vincent Ho, gastroenterologist at Western Sydney University Presenter: Con Keramitsis The post Associate Profess...

Dr Edith Hill unpacks an AI-enhanced hotel that wasn’t quite what it seemed and an influencer who allegedly spent nearly two years documenting a university life that apparently never existed, raising the bigger question of how we can tell what is real online anymore. Guest: Dr Edith Hill, Associate Lecturer in Learning and Teaching Innovation at Flinders University Presenter: Con Keramitsis The po...

Astrophysicist Dr Sara Webb explores Cloud 9, the extraordinary cloud of gas and dark matter that may have been a galaxy without any stars, and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which promises to transform what we know about dark energy, exoplanets and the universe. Guest: Dr Sara Webb, Associate Dean, Innovation & Engagement, School of Science, Computing and Emerging Technologies at Swin...

MasterChef and The Traitors star Alvin Quah joined JOY Drive ahead of R U OK? Day to explain why we often underestimate the power of simply checking in, what genuine support looks like and why we shouldn’t wait for the perfect moment to ask someone how they were really going. Guest: Alvin Quah, R U OK? Ambassador; MasterChef and The Traitors star Presenter: Con Keramitsis The post Alvin Quah: Why...

Italian-Australian travel writer Cristian Bonetto joined JOY Drive to uncover the Italian stories hidden in Australian food, coffee, architecture, music, and community life, and to reveal how writing his new book ITALO changed the way he saw both Australia and his own family history. Guest: Cristian Bonetto, Italian-Australian travel writer and author of ITALO: Italian Culture and Dining in Austra...

What could a new Taylor Swift or Harry Styles album possibly have to do with road deaths? Researchers found traffic fatalities were 15% higher on the release days of ten hugely streamed albums, after one researcher caught himself drifting out of his lane while searching Spotify. Associate Professor Lauren Rosewarne explores whether streaming, giant car touchscreens and the excitement of new music...

Our superannuation is our money, but that doesn’t mean we can withdraw it whenever we need it. Professor Scott Donald explains the limited circumstances under which Australians can access super before retirement, the difference between financial hardship and compassionate grounds, and why taking money out decades early can cost far more than the amount withdrawn. He also explains the warning signs...

Dog owners often swear their pet knows exactly when something is wrong. Now brain scans have provided world-first evidence that dogs may distinguish between different human emotions rather than simply sensing that our mood has changed. Dr Mia Cobb explains what happens in dogs’ brains when they see fear, sadness, and anger; why fear may be particularly important to them; and how our dogs combine o...

At the first sign of a scratchy throat, plenty of us reach for vitamin C. But decades of research suggest its reputation for fighting the common cold is much bigger than the actual benefit. Associate Professor Evangeline Mantzioris separates evidence from habit, explains why taking vitamin C after symptoms begin is unlikely to help, where the belief came from and what happens when a 1,000mg supple...

Tattoo ink can remain beneath our skin for decades, Botox temporarily stops muscles from moving, and medicines can be injected beneath the skin, into muscle or directly into our bloodstream. But why do they all need to go to different places? Associate Professor Theresa Larkin takes us beneath the surface to explain what happens inside our bodies when we get tattoos, injections, allergy tests, acu...

Artificial Intelligence (AI) can create a workout plan in seconds, but can it understand pain, medical risk, motivation or the limits of the person following it? Dr Hunter Bennett explains where artificial intelligence can help with fitness, where human coaches still have the advantage and how to use AI-generated exercise advice safely. Guest: Dr Hunter Bennett, Lecturer in Exercise Science, Adela...

LGBTQIA+ people are more visible than ever, yet anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric and culture wars are becoming increasingly prominent. Associate Professor Lauren Rosewarne explores social anxiety, online outrage, masculinity and why minority groups so often become targets during periods of uncertainty. Guest: Dr Lauren Rosewarne, Associate Professor in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the Univ...

Migration to Australia has fallen sharply since its recent peak, yet public concern continues to grow. Emily Foley explores the gap between perception and reality, the role of housing and cost-of-living pressures, and how political rhetoric shapes the national debate. Guest: Emily Foley, Research Fellow at the University of Canberra and Flinders University Presenter: Warren Andrew The post Emily F...